


What Good is Left

by Vitalspherean



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: 'Not for sensitive people' is a heads up I should probably give, Accidental First Kiss, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Eventual Smut, Experienced Marco, Friends to Lovers, Hence ZOMBIES, I may be a tad bit lazy as well, It's a zombie outbreak plus marcoxjean what else is there to tag, M/M, Virgin Jean, both Jean and Marco POV, but mostly Jean POV, infatuation at first sight, insensitive slurring later, just expect stuff that isn't always nice and fluffy, no i'm not, ok I'm done, straight to gay, this actually ended up having a lot more fluffy stuff than I thought
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-02-16
Packaged: 2018-03-08 15:53:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3214886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vitalspherean/pseuds/Vitalspherean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little bite isn't anything to worry about, right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was the week after high school graduation, almost eleven pm on a Wednesday, and I was scrolling through a list of universities online. I clicked over Sina University as the screen changed to a bunch of pictures depicting young adults posed, with arms around each other like they were the best of friends and going to that school was the best thing to ever happen to them; words across the screen agreeing with them. I didn't even know what I wanted to go for yet and my mom was still making me sign up saying "You could just put your degree as art for now and change it later." I click the enroll button and start filling out the form.  _Jean Kirstein. Age 18._

"NO NO NO NO NO! WHY!?!?" My twelve year old brother, Gene, began yelling as he lost, once again, to a boss battle in an Xbox 360 game I loaned him a few days ago called Resonance of Fate _._  

I look up at the fifty inch TV he was playing on. Ugh. It was the weird manikin boss that you had to protect a weird statue from. I hated that guy. "Told you you needed to grind a lot in this game. Just give up and reload your last save and go back to the dungeon after leveling up ten times."

"That's the problem! I  _can't_. The last time I saved was before the  _last_ chapter's boss. I'll have to redo  _EVERYTHING_."

"Idiot."

"Shut up." He goes up to the Xbox and turns it off, changing the TV source to cable and changed the channel to animal planet. Untamed and Uncut was on as it showed a pair of giraffes going at each other as if their heads and necks were clubs.

"I thought you couldn't get off the game."

"I'll play it tomorrow."

"You just like watching the girl twirl in the air so you can see up her skirt."

"Says the one who attends all the girls' volleyball games with a camera."

"At least  _Mikasa_ is  _real_." Gene flipped me the bird and stuck his tongue out. I did the same. A commercial for hump day came on as people harassed a bunch of camels at a zoo, it ending in it not even being hump day in the commercial. Gene and I laughed a bit, "God, I love those stupid things."

"Right, wonder what they'll come up with next."

The locks on the front door could be heard being opened and my mom came in hurriedly locking the door behind her. She practically ran into the kitchen, so I put the laptop to the side and went in there after her as Gene situated himself on the opposite couch and spaced out in front of the TV. "Mom, something up?"

" _FUCK!"_   She shouted as she was mercilessly scrubbing her arm with dish soap.

"Guess so," I muttered under my breath as I slumped over to the counter next to her, "Holy shit! Did someone bite you?!"

"Language Jean!" I put my hands up defensively, backing off a little. "He tried to mug me in the stupid ass parking lot, that fucking asshole." My mom cussed like a sailor sometimes, but one slip up from me or my brother in front of her and she was on us like a miniature pinscher. "I tazed him and kicked him down before he could do any more damage but the fucker got right back up as I drove away and tried chasing the car," she finished rinsing her arm and went to dry it with a hand towel, "I had to take like twenty detours out of paranoia just to make sure I actually lost him."

"Why didn't you go to the hospital? He could have rabies, it broke through your skin." I looked down at the left arm she was drying and it wasn't  _that_ bad looking, but that was beside the point.

"I'll go in the morning, I've gotten tired suddenly since then from the excitement, and it's too far."

"It's like five minutes from our house by car."

"Ten, and even in the  _completely off chance_ that he did have rabies, I have like twenty-four hours anyway to get the cure anyways. Right?" She looked at me questioningly like I knew the answer.

"I don't know, that's what I've heard." I shrugged my shoulders as I trailed off, "Hey, at least you have life insurance."

"Funny," my mom retorted," it shouldn't be too much of a problem, besides I have some files to look over online before bed. I'm gonna take that laptop from you, by the way."

"Oh, uh, let me finish up enrolling for college real quick..."

"Mmhmmm, I told you to do that days ago."

"I love you?"

"You better. Just finish tomorrow, you guys at least ate dinner while I was gone today or?"

"Yeah, I made stew. Leftovers are in the fridge if you want any."

"Please, I went to McDonald's hours ago for fear of starvation." she walked out to the living room and sat on the couch I was on before and kicked off her shoes as she grabbed the laptop. I could hear her click and minimize the window I was on in order to open up her own as I got myself a root beer from the fridge. "Hey, Jean."

"Huh?" I said, leaning against the counter and letting out a hissing sound from my soda can before going to take a swig.

"If you're going to upload fapping material to the  _family_  computer from your camera, at least exit out of the photo editor before anyone else goes on."

The root beer spewed from my mouth as Mom and Gene started laughing.  _Shit, I forgot about that._  I scurried into the entryway between the living room and kitchen, "It's not fapping stuff! I'm just helping out with the school year book committee in getting photos for the volley ball team! Don't delete anything or they'll never forgive me, that was their last game!"

Gene stopped laughing for a second, gasping at air. "If you look through all the pictures, you'll probably find one of this Asian chick's ass-" 

"Butt," Mom cut in.

"-butt that he likes so much and is gonna follow to SU and _marry_ her and have thirty children." Gene ran on, giggling into silence to continue watching some baboons sneak into an apartment.

 _You little shit, I never said any of that stuff._  I leered in his direction and made my way back to the kitchen to go wipe up the traces of soda that splattered on the island counter real quick. 

If I thought about it, I was lucky to have a family like mine. Sure, Dad got up and disappeared what was now eight years ago and Mom had to work her ass off all the time, but life was pretty good. We lived in a three bedroom apartment with good appliances. Sure, we didn't have things like cellphones or a computer for every person in the house, but we were well taken care of. After the hell Dad left us in to scrape ourselves together, Mom had become more of a friend type thing and we all became more open with each other and got along for the most part. The only thing that could possibly make my life easier was if everyone I knew at school wasn't such a douche, not that I wasn't one to them myself with my short temper when it came to anyone outside my little family circle, but who needed high school friends anyways? I'll go out into the world and find people that aren't annoying as hell.

I went to rejoin my mom and brother in the living room and relaxed on the recliner chair in the corner, eventually falling asleep to shit-crazy animal videos.

 

* * *

 

 I woke up but was still sort of half asleep. My eyes were closed but I could tell that the lights were off, except for a faint glow that probably came from the laptop. I could here my brother calling out to Mom over and over again, asking if she is alright. Groggily lifting my head I opened my eyes to see the laptop fallen over on its side on the floor, Mom's body limp with Gene hovering over and shaking her. My mind mulled over for a second before I realized what was happening. I jumped up unsteadily; way too fast because my vision dimmed and came back to where there were little lights floating around, but I didn't care as I practically leapt towards the house phone.

"What happened!" I dialed for the police.

"I- I don't know! I woke up cause I heard something fall over and Mom was on the ground and she's like passed out or something!"

"Why didn't you wake me up?! Or call the police!" The phone was ringing.  _Pick up! Pick up! Pick up! What are we supposed to do without Mom?!_

"It just happened right now!"

I got sent to the automated voice answering machine telling me to hold. "FUCK!" I hung up and tried dialing again right as blood-curdling screams echoed from outside. "What the hell?" I went toward the window, phone to ear, and peeked out. I froze. If my eyes served me right... a woman and her children, a little girl and a baby being held by the mother, were being ganged up upon. The attackers biting chunks of flesh off of their bodies. "Holy shit! Damn police, pick up already!" I let go of the shades and took a step backwards, " Don't go near the windows or doors, alright Gene? Not 'till the police get he-" Violent banging on the door made me jump out of my skin and drop the phone to the floor. I could hear snarls and mangled screeching sounds come from the other side. Who- no,  _what_ the hell was out there? _  
_

"Mo-!" Gene's voice was muffled out by his screams and I turned around, only to see Mom tearing through Gene's belly.

 No words could escape me. _What_  the  _fuck._  Those words kept running through my mind as I tackled my mom off of my brother's convulsing body. We rolled over towards the kitchen, me pinned underneath as I tried my best to keep her hands and teeth from ripping through me. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" I screamed into her face, getting my foot up under her stomach and kicking her backwards against the wall. I got to my feet and ran into the kitchen, Mom close behind.

I grabbed the toaster off of the counter and hit her, making her stumble to the side a bit but still coming at me. I hit her again, and again, and again, until she fell to the floor. She tried getting back up and as her mangled, bloody face with bloodshot eyes turned towards me, I straddled her back before she could make it back up and slammed the toaster down on her head. It broke with the contact and Mom was still struggling. 

 _Why am I doing this? What am I doing anyways? Why is she doing this to me? To Gene?_ Those words flashed through my mind but I couldn't control my body in the hype of things. Panicking, I took a coffee mug off the counter and smashed her head in until she no longer moved. Just a mess of flesh, blood, and what looked to be pieces of brain tangled in hair.

Shock enveloped me and I couldn't move. I couldn't think anymore. It was all just like when sudden static popped up on the TV and all a person could try to do was block out the unattractive noise until it was turned off. My mind churned back into place.  _Gene._

I scrambled back to where he was lying, in blood and now crying up blood from his mouth, "Jean, it hurts, it  _hurts,_ " his sobs came out making me start to tear up at the mess I saw him in.

"Alright, Gene,  _don't_ move. Don't move, OK? Let me get the phone, OK?" I tried to remain calm but my voice was wavering. All he did was nod his head and continue crying. I went to go get the phone that had dropped to the floor a few feet away earlier.

Gene was going to be alright. I'll call the police and they'll bring an ambulance. Help from the things banging on the door, too. I wen't back to Gene's side.

"I got the phone, Gene," I whispered reassuringly, but something was wrong. "Gene? Gene, hey!" His eyes were closed, I took hold of the sides of his face. "Gene! Wake up! You can't sleep right now!"

"Wha- what?" He yanked his head around real fast.

"You have to stay alive!" I seethed through tears, feeling useless as I was unable to do anything. His whole stomach area was torn open and the pool of blood him and I where in only kept spreading out.

"I'm cold," his eyes slipped shut. 

He was cold. A feeling like a rush came from out of him and I could tell, with tears streaming down my face, that that was the last time he would ever open and close his eyes again. I bawled out his name. Cried. Shook him. When I tried the police again, they still wouldn't answer. I threw the phone and it went through the window.

Bad choice. The next thing I knew, whatever was at the door started breaking through the window. I scrambled to my feet and ran to my room, locking the door behind me that they came to bang on. It wouldn't hold for much longer.  _Window._ I slipped socks and shoes on, got my sweater, opened the window, and thank God I wasn't any higher than the first floor because I had to jump out and bolt as my door came down. My feet and an adrenaline rush carried me to who-knows-where. Those things were still on my tail, and they weren't the only ones running around. I was almost tackled once or twice, but there was also other people like me running around from them, and would get caught and devoured. 

I ended up running down a long road where the houses were nice and big and spread apart from each other. There was still one of those things chasing me and I needed to lose it. I turn in down a driveway and make my way to the door, that just so happens to already be open.  _Great, hope there isn't any of those things inside._ I ran in and closed the door and locked it behind me. Good thing about rich people's houses was their sturdy doors.  _Thank God._

My body ached and I was tired, but I had to check out the rest of the house and make sure everything was locked and there was no one insi-

Everything turned to darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I hope whoever reads this liked it... even though it's sort of a downer. I mean. ZOMBIES. Idk. For the type of zombies, I was thinking kind of like a mix between TWD and runners from TLOU, just so you can get an image in your minds of the image in my mind.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!!! I appreciate constructive criticism and what-not, so feel free to point out any grammatical or spelling errors I may have made.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean has to pee. And meets Marco.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UPDATE TO THIS CHAPTER: I added what was going to be the beginning of chapter three to the end of this chapter because after I wrote it, I just felt like it should go here. At least it made this chapter a bit longer. YAY
> 
> CHAPTER THREE COMING SOON. Seriously. Like in two days. Since I already wrote most of it.

Snuggling into  _extremely_ comfortable cushioning, I stretched stiff and sore muscles while arcing my back and letting out a soft moan. My bladder felt like it was going to burst but I just didn't want to get up. When did the couch ever feel this comfortable? It felt like I could be floating, what did I do yesterday to make me  _this_ worn out? I blinked open my eyes at the ceiling and a wave of realization hit me along with what felt like the worst hangover in my life and memories that made me wish it was five seconds ago, because I really didn't want to think about them. Tears threatened my eyes and my breath hitched as I brought my hands to my face. 

"Don't get up," a voice commanded me as I startled and gasped inward from the sudden sound. Right. Someone had to have knocked me out.

Looking over hesitantly I could see that the voice belonged to a guy about my age with a face encompassed by short black hair, round light brown eyes, and cheeks dusted with freckles and a light blush.  _Blush? Why would he be blushing?_  The urge to pee hit me harder, but I didn't dare move too fast because the man held a baseball bat threateningly.

"I'm sorry that I broke into your house, but you were kind of asking for it just leaving the door open like that. Plus, it was better me than one of those crazy things running around outside."

"You mean that other guy you locked out and kept pounding on the door for nearly an hour until," he paused before continuing while looking distant, "I took care of him." His focus came back with some sort of mixture between confusion and intensity, "What's going on?" 

"You expect the one who was running for his life to know the answer? All I  _do_ know is that people are fucking chasing and eating each other. Look, we could be allies in whatever the hell is going on, but I  _really_ have to go. To the bathroom."

He lowered the bat and his blush deepened, "I, uh, could tell... Bathroom's down the hall and to the right."

 _He could tell?_ I got up, careful not to startle him, and looked down in the process. Oh. I could feel my face burn as I went toward the implied door. Morning wood.

After being relieved I went to wash my hands and looked into the mirror. I looked like crap and a bruise was forming beside my left eye on the side of my face. Must of been where I was hit by the bat. Putting my hands under the water and scrubbing them, rinsing off the dried blood, made thoughts of whose blood it was fill my mind. Reality was a bitch more than ever. They were dead. The last of what I had was taken from me. My hands were no longer the only thing that was wet. I couldn't stop the streams from falling down my cheeks and I let out a sob that was much louder than I would have liked as I dried my hands on a hand towel.

"Is everything alright in there?"

 _Shit._ I hurriedly wiped my eyes with my sleeve and went to open the door, "Yeah, everything's great," I offered up a (what felt to me anyways) friendly smile. The look he gave me wasn't one of being convinced, though it did seem like he trusted me more than he initially did earlier.

"You want to talk about anything?"

I looked to the side and back while rubbing my neck then shook my head. He didn't push further, thank god. "What time is it?" I didn't know what to do, I was a mess and all I wanted was to go lie back down on that amazing couch and feel sorry for myself.

He walked back into the living room and I followed. "Well, it was around five a.m. when you got here..." He took out a cell phone and looked at the time, "It's eight twenty-one a.m." He turned around towards me, "Oh, and I'm Marco Bott." 

A hand was extended my way, "Jean Kirstein, " I took it and looked back up at his soft, caring complexion in his eyes. "so what now?" I asked as we went to sit back down on the couch, Marco taking a place next to me.

"I was supposed to meet up here with my older sister, Ymir, but she hasn't made it back from picking up Krista. This is our parent's house you see. Thing is that all phone lines are down, land-line and cell phones. I searched you over for a cell to try and contact her but you didn't have one on you," his face was stricken with worry as he looked away from me, "I wasn't about to go out alone either."

His gaze fell on me and I felt put on the spot. I was scared shitless, and here I was practically being asked to go back out into the crazy world waiting for me outside to help look for his sister.  _His sister._  Would I go out there for my family members? I sighed, "Where do you think she might be now? I mean, it's been what? Three hours since you last contacted her? Are you sure she's eve-"

"I _k_ _now_ she's alive," he interrupted me harshly.

"And you have a car, right?" What was I getting myself into.

"Of course!" His face had a big smile on it now and a light in his eyes.

"Well I'm not going out there unarmed. Got any more baseball bats? Or something?"

"Uhhh... How about a screwdriver?"

"..."

"Right. Oh! A fireplace poker?" He got up and took something out of a decorative barrel by a fireplace that I didn't realize was there earlier. He looked proud as he held out the handle towards me and I took it.

"Guess this works. Where're we heading?" Right as I finished that sentence my stomach answered out in protest.

"Do you want to talk over breakfast? I've got waffles." He walked away and spun around grinning.

"Your parents have waffles," I got up to follow him, returning the expression, then stopped. "Um, where are they...?" The question came out cracked. I didn't know what kind of ground I was treading on, but Marco seemed like an OK guy.

"Bahamas, far away from all this."

I couldn't help but be envious of him. Here he was with all his ducks in a row, and here I was with all my ducks shot from the sky. When he closed the freezer with a box of waffles in his hands, I could tell he could see the new mood I was in.

"You alright?" Marco looked concerned as he opened the box to get to its contents and put them in the toaster.

"Yep, just thinking a bit."  _Smooth Jean, smooth._ "So this sister of yours..."

We talked about where Ymir and Krista would be at, a Holiday Inn right on the southern edge of town, and we also both agreed not to split up. Splitting up was always bad. The conversation turned to where we were when this all started. Marco was at his apartment with his sister Ymir visiting from her traveling salesperson job with her partner Krista who stayed at the hotel. Apparently his apartment's sliding glass door was broken through and they made a getaway to their cars making an agreement to meet at their parents' house. All I told him was that I was at home. He didn't press on me, he seemed to be able to sense when I felt uncomfortable about talking about something. I had a feeling we'd be able to work together pretty well.  

I'm not gonna lie, I scarfed those waffles down probably in the rudest way possible. Not that I was  _trying_ to be rude, but who could blame me? I've had more than enough of my fill of exercise and was going to end up getting more. Marco laughed as he watched me finish.

"What?" I said snarkily. 

He took a bite out of his barely half-finished waffles while holding back giggles. "You want more?" He set his fork down to get up but I interrupted him before he could get up.

"I could do it."

"Help yourself," he smiled, waving his hand in the direction of the waffle box sitting next to the toaster. "So," he coughed as I was putting the waffles in the machine, "how, uh, old are you exactly?" He sounded nervous. He probably didn't know what kind of information I was willing to give out.

"I'm eighteen. You?"

"Nineteen!" He was all confidence again, "You go to college? What major?"

"I was actually going to enroll for this coming fall semester. I didn't really know what kind of degree I wanted, I was gonna do art and then change it later."

"That's good. You could try out different things to figure out what you're interested in," the waffles popped up, "I'm going for law enforcement."

"So like a police officer?"

"Yep."

After we finished breakfast we headed out to his car, him locking the house behind us. Good thing Marco's parents' house was a good distance away from the main town, there weren't any of those  _monsters_ around. We walked around to the car, a mitsubishi RVR parked in the driveway. I jumped when I saw what was lying just a few feet from the car. A man's body was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, that I could only guess was his own. His head was smashed in making him completely unidentifiable. 

Marco noticed my surprised reaction, "He was the one that was banging on the door... that I took care of." 

It sounded as if he didn't want to scare me away, like I was some kind of scared, small animal. It was probably a good idea, too. I blocked out his voice for a moment, and even though I saw my mom and Gene in a similar state, something about this instance was different. I turned away from the body and threw up over some shrubs along the edge of the driveway. It was obvious what I had for breakfast. I could hear footsteps come up behind me and felt a hand gently settle on my arced back, slowly rubbing up and down.

I stood back up straight, "I wasn't expecting that..." I trailed. His hand found my shoulder and turned me to look into his eyes.

"You're going to have to get used to seeing this kind of thing for now, probably for a while. Even cause it yourself if you want to live through this thing." His presence was calming and honest and made me feel a hell of a lot better. Why couldn't I have known him before all this happened? He could have helped me through a lot of shit I had had to go through in the past.

"I already have caused it. Once." I looked away and went to the passenger side of the car.

There was an awkward silence as we pulled out of the driveway of Marco's parents' house. I thought it was awkward anyways, I mean I just got in a car with someone that I practically met less than an hour ago and to top it off who knocked me out with a bat hours before that. We neared the end of the street, which was a lot shorter than I remembered when I ran down it.

"Hey, aren't you going to stop at the stop sign?"

"Am I going to get a ticket,  _officer?_ " Sarcasm was laced in Marco's voice as he glanced over at me. I guess he had a point. The police would be elsewhere trying to control the chaos.

Right as we finished rounding the corner a running body came directly at the vehicle and rolled over the windshield and off, blood splattered all across the front window as Marco hit the breaks. More of them came up to my door and started banging on it making me jump.

"Well don't just sit there! DRIVE!" I yelled at him and he gladly stepped on the gas, turning on the windshield wipers to see through the blood.

More kept coming to bang on the car, but we couldn't go any faster than between ten and fifteen miles an hour after turning the corner, because there were other cars littering the street Marco had to drive around. Everyone that I saw outside that had turned were all torn up with bite marks and torn flesh and blood still seeping out of them. I tried to blank them out and took slow, quiet, deep breaths. There wasn't even a  _most_  disturbing part because it was  _all_  disturbing. From the elderly to middle aged to young adult to child, all my thoughts veered towards how they used to be normal people just like how I am. How Marco is. I peered at him from the corner of my eye. Will I have to go through with him what I had to with Mom and Gene? My imagination ran away with me as I thought of having to bash his head in. I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent myself from starting to cry like earlier in the bathroom. I didn't want to have to kill Marco, sure I just met him, but in record time I felt like I had made a true friend even though it was through unruly circumstances. I'd much rather him have to bash my head in, though I would prefer not to turn into a monster at all.

Gunshots suddenly rang out making Marco stop the car again as we looked around to see where they came from. That was useless though because our view was blocked out. More shots sounded and it seemed to be from some sort of machine gun from the noise the shots made. Short, steady bursts. A hole appeared in Marco's window and I could feel a small stream of air push against the front of my face.

"Recline your seat now!" Marco ordered while following his own advice. I didn't object as more bullets came cascading through, most luckily hitting the already dead people around Marco's car. 

"Can't you keep driving?" I semi-hissed at him.

"Only blind," he looked over at me as if to ask permission.

"Just get me out alive and I'll love you for-fucking-ever!"

"Aww, you mean it sweetheart?" Marco teased and I sneered at him.

The car jolted forward and I held on for dear life, to the edge of my seat with one hand and my grip tightening around the fireplace poker with the other since the windows started cracking under pounding pressure. Marco peeked his head up a little to get some semblance of where to drive the car as the bullets got farther away from us. I wished we could go faster because just lying there in the car and not being able to completely tell my surroundings made me feel anxious and vulnerable. We bumped into something in front of us and Marco let out a curse under his breath to where I couldn't hear.

"Can I sit up?" My patience ran out before Marco had a chance to answer and I peeked out what was left of the windows to see that it was another car we drove into. He sat up more too.

"I would keep the chairs back, just in case we have to avoid gunfire again." He backed the car out and went around, hitting what was left of the bodies around the car.

"Great idea." I could still hear the gunfire a little ways behind us, and apparently the dead could too. Whatever was in front of us and to the side either abandoned getting into the car or completely ignored us and ventured in the direction of the shots. This allowed us to go a little faster. "Marco."

"Yeah?" He wove the vehicle through three oddly stationed and deserted police cars.

"The dead are attracted to the loudest noises, I think."

"Huh..." He looked around a bit more, "seems so. That's a good thing to know for future purposes." Some time passed before he spoke up again, "Is that what we're gonna start calling them?"

"Calling what?"

"The  _dead_?" He elongated the word 'dead' as if I was supposed to know exactly what he was talking about all the time. "Because _z_ _ombies_  are so overrated."

 Was he making fun of me?  _Jackass_. Okay, maybe I was a little sensitive right now, but he was in what seemed to be too good of a mood considering the situation we were in.  _Asshole. Fucker. Dickhead. Douche._  I listed off a bunch of names in my head toward him. "So you were thinking about calling them that." I grunted to him. Marco looked my way for a bit to assess my mood. I looked back at him fiercely, " _What._ "

"Well, You seem to have something hanging over your head that you're hung up about."

" _So?_ " I turned away from him, crossing my arms over my belly out of discomfort.

" _So_ , I just want to let you know that I'm here for anything you might want to talk about." 

"What are you, some kind of freckled Jesus?" 

Marco laughed, "Far from it actually." He avoided going onto a highway blocked by tons of cars as the dead from them came after ours, them being too slow to keep up since our new speed was probably around thirty miles an hour. "I just really want to be your friend. Want us to be able to rely on one another. Sure, because of the dead and the fact that you're helping me get Ymir and Krista back, but also because I want to get to know who  _you_  are as a person. I know we can get through this together. I'm sure you feel the same, yeah?"

This guy was a saint, I swear. Hell, I'll take it. BFF forever man, you've won it. Not that it was necessarily a good thing for him. I couldn't help but blush myself a tiny bit and turn away to hide it while mumbling, "I guess."

" _Plus_ ," he leaned over to my side of the car and bumped his elbow lightly with my arm, "I kinda feel bad about hitting you in the head with my bat. Not that I regret it at all, though." I looked at him incredulously as he chuckled and winked, then put his eyes back on the road.  _This guy._  How could he make me feel so lighthearted? Then the car halted.

"What's wrong?" I said looking forward, "Oh." My heart stopped.

"Finding another route, "Marco's voice in a way mimicked a GPS as he put the vehicle in reverse. What was in front of us was a group of  _at least_  a couple hundred of the dead. In their midst was a bunch of military vehicles that were overrun. Whoever used to be manning them were now turned and after us.

It took us a while to lose some of them. Most were attracted to the sound of gunshots going off nearby wherever we drove, but some were still on us. At least it wasn't a hundred.  _Dammit._  Whatever was infecting everyone sure was spreading fast. It seemed all of Rose City died overnight.

We found our way to some back roads that Marco said should lead us to the hotel in about ten minutes if we didn't run into any problems. The car was pretty beat up, at least from what I could tell on the inside, but seemed to be working fine still. Marco had run over quite a few of the dead, bashing their heads to the asphalt in order to get rid of them before we got where we were going. 

It was quiet; the car just driving down the road as if everything was back to normal. I was leaning back comfortably into the car chair that I had earlier readjusted while looking blankly through the bloody smeared windshield. "I don't think that I've ever been to this side of town before, even though I've lived here my whole life. It's so... rural. Are you sure there's a Holiday Inn way out here?" Great. I'm so nervous I'm trying to create small talk.

"Yeah, some people probably wouldn't know about it because they actually just finished setting up the place earlier this month. I was actually surprised to hear about it too, since I don't really need to go to hotels, but then I heard from Ymir that all the buildings in this old area were being torn down and turned into a new shopping district. I know the back roads really well because this is where she taught me how to drive."

"Well that's cool. Your sister sounds nice," was all I could think of to say. 

"Oh, uh, well... yeah, she's pretty cool," he ran a hand through his hair, "You guys might get along."

 _Might_ get along? "Don't worry, if she's related to you I'm sure we will. 'Sides, what choice do we have  _but_ to get along with each other now."

All Marco did was let out a half-hearted laugh while running his hand through his hair again. I raised an eyebrow in his direction. Great. What's wrong with his sister.

The long strip of tall oak trees came to an end on Marco's side of the car and I looked over as we turned into what appeared to be the backside of a three story tall Holiday Inn. OH. This was a nice, legit looking place compared to the area it was in. Definitely looked new.

"So are we gonna drive around the front? Or?" I asked because he stopped the car and took out the keys before going completely into the empty back lot.

"You do realize that there's probably a bunch of those dead people out front right? I mean, we're lucky there weren't any back here. Not to mention what might be inside."

"In other words, we're going through the back entrance right there."

"Yup."

"Isn't it locked?"

"Does that door look locked to you?"

I looked over at the door and squinted through the dirty window. Well what would you know, a dead body's lying in the doorway, blocking the door from closing. This was a lucky break for us. "Ready whenever you are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so not an action-y chapter, but this is how Jean met Marco. Since it's just the beginning of the zombie apocalypse I would think that there would be more of a trusting vibe going on between people as they scramble to make groups in order to survive.
> 
> And I think Marco is ADORABLE. Just had to randomly write that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go save Ymir and Krista. 
> 
> Marco's POV to have its (albeit small) debut at the end of this chapter.
> 
> Also, we've got ourselves a surprise in the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I lied. It took me four days to finish this chapter, but in my defense it became A LOT longer than I thought it would be. It's 7,103 words long to be exact.
> 
> And I've decided that when changing scenes or during some kind of 'time skip' type thing with the same character POV, I'll only separate with a single line break. And a POV change is represented by two line breaks.
> 
> ***IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE UPDATE TO CHAPTER TWO YOU MIGHT BE LOST***

Marco went through the door first when we got there and I followed carefully behind him. We both froze when the door creaked shut back onto the dead body of some old man in a dress suit. His head looked like it had been bashed in by the door while standing up and then fell over to block the way. Besides the body lying there, there didn't seem to be anyone or _anything_  near the service exit. Didn't mean we were gonna stop sneaking though.

Breath was hard for me to come by and I could feel my heart pounding in the side of my aching head where I was hit by Marco earlier. And was it supposed to be so hot in here? Sweat was beading down my body under my clothes. While it was scary driving on the way here, sometimes being swarmed by the dead all around, at least the car was a buffer and could run over them somewhat easily. Here I was vulnerable with just a fireplace poker as my only defense. That and Marco, who seemed to be a lot more level headed about this than I was. I was thankful for that. God knows what I would do without an angel like him around at a time like this.

A pair of double doors we were walking by flew open and I was hit on the left side of my head for the second time today. I dropped my weapon and crouched in pain as I let out a moan of anguish.  _What_ the  _fuck_ did I do to deserve this?! I could hear Marco talking back and forth hurriedly with someone but I couldn't focus on anything, at least I didn't get knocked out again. Other noises came from further away and I could feel the atmosphere around me get panicked. I tilted my head up in what I guessed was Marco's vicinity and blinked my eyes vehemently before a strong force picked me up by the arm, partially dragging me as I stumbled in whatever direction it took me.

My vision came into focus as I realized I was sitting propped up against a cabinet on the floor. Sound came back clear again and I jumped up when I saw Marco and two other people trying to barricade the door. I rushed over to where they were and put full force on the door, which shut the door completely from all the dead that were trying to barge in. The girl that was with us wrapped around a short elastic like cord multiple times through the door handles and hooked together the hooks on the end. 

"That should do it," the brunette girl breathed out heavily as everyone else shuffled their weight off of the now what seemed to be impenetrable double doors. As I turned around the girl suddenly grabbed my shoulders, "I'M SO SORRY I THOUGHT YOU WERE ONE OF THE DEAD! I'm Sasha by the way, nice to meet you," she let go of my shoulders and held out a hand with a really shitty toothless grin on her face.

I looked at her dumbfounded until her words registered in my swirling, aching mind. "Wait, that was you?! What the  _hell_?!" I carefully felt up the left side of my face with a scowl, but decided to take her hand anyways and give her my name.

"And I'm Connie!" A really short guy with shaven hair slapped me in what I guess was supposed to be a friendly way, but really just kind of hurt.

"I'm Marco," Marco turned towards us smiling and rubbing his hands together nervously before settling them by his sides.

"Oh, right. Sorry for almost stabbing you in the head with a butcher knife. Good thing my aim was off, yeah?" Connie's face was contorted into an awkward semi-smile.

"OK, well while everything's all dandy between you guys, I would very much like to know what I got hit with." I huffed in Sasha's direction.

"A frying pan," everyone around me said in unison.

"Like in that one Rapunzel Disney movie!" Sasha piped up and they all snickered, even Marco had to try to suppress his giggle with his hand.

Not funny. Here everyone was relieving stress by laughing at my misfortune. My day couldn't possibly get any worse. "Shit." I looked around as they all let out the laughter they had been suppressing due to Sasha's remark. We were in a kitchen with a huge as hell refrigerator, a long flat-top electric stove, and a large see-through pastry display with over two-thirds of the doughnuts and other delicacies eaten. Unfortunately, there was also something else that I noticed about the place. There was only one exit and it was blocked by, from what I could see through the circular windows on the metallic double doors, around six of the dead now. Maybe more that I couldn't see were there as well because the sounds they were making behind the doors were that of a dozen. "We're stuck in here aren't we?"

"Pretty much," Connie slapped his hands together.

"We have food though! All the good stuff!" Sasha looked drunk with ecstasy. I'm guessing she's the one that ate most of the pastries.

"How did _you_  guys get stuck in here anyways? Do you work here or something?" Marco inquired, looking around like I had done.

Sasha and Connie didn't in fact work at the new Holiday Inn like Marco asked. They told us that they just thought that this was the safest looking place in the area, and that apparently they were wrong because when they were knocking on the back door, the one who opened it was the old dead guy. Who then tried to eat them. Which made them have to bash his head in. They snuck around for a bit like Marco and I did too, but before they rounded a corner shortly after passing the kitchen and peeked around it, the lobby and dining area had a bunch of the dead roaming about. Then they decided to wait it out in the kitchen. While eating the food in there. 

When they were done telling their story of how they got in, Sasha started stuffing doughnuts down her throat, and Connie ate as well, but in less of a wild starving wolf on crack kind of way. I dug through the knife drawer Connie showed me since I dropped the fireplace poker outside the kitchen, and found a sturdy knife. Not one as big as Connie's butcher knife he kept in close proximity, but one that would do the trick if I came into close contact of one of the dead.

After I got settled, I reached into the display to get a custard filled doughnut for myself, because why not? We were trapped in a kitchen and that Sasha girl didn't look like she would be obliged to save some out for me later. Marco came over and grabbed the last glazed strawberry danish much to Sasha's dismay, making her pout and try to plead with Marco out of eating it while still having a mouth full of a couple lemon tart doughnuts and cinnamon roll in hand. He ate it anyways making Connie and I giggle through our mouthfuls.

When he was done licking the last of the strawberry substance from his fingers, he spoke up, "So we're here to get my sister, Ymir, and her partner, Krista, from their room here."

"Dude, we're stuck in a kitchen with no other way out," Connie swallowed what he had and licked his lips, "You guys can't even help yourselves right now, meaning we can't even help you find them right now." Sasha grunted in agreement, still eating.

"That's where you're wrong," Marco refuted and we all paused for a moment to raise an eyebrow in his direction. Was he trying to get us to take on all those dead outside the kitchen. Fucking crazy. Then again that seemed to be the theme of the day for me. "Sasha, do you have a quarter in that fanny pack around your waist?"

She looked offended as she unzipped the pack that was covered in various types of ice cream that had silly faces plastered on them as if they were animate objects. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't always have change with me for vending machines?" Then she pulled out a quarter and handed it to Marco who thanked her.

I decided to jump in the conversation then, because nobody else was asking what we all thought. "What the hell do you need a quarter for?"

"Yeah, that's pretty random," Connie interjected.

"There's a vent big enough for us to crawl through to a different part of the hotel over the island counter, see?" Marco made his way over to it and climbed on his knees on the island and put the quarter to use, twisting it to unwind what I guessed was some kind of screw.

We all watched and I couldn't help but admire him. He was smart, friendly, and thought things through. All qualities of a good leader, I definitely don't mind being on the Marco led bandwagon. It took probably around ten to fifteen minutes for him to get all the screws undone, the grate falling down then Marco setting it aside.

"Alright, do you guys want me to go up and scope the hotel, or do one of you want to volunteer?" Marco sat back on his heels to wait for any responses from us. Sasha obviously wasn't leaving the pastries behind unless the vent was a for sure exit, and Connie said he'd stay down here with her. So I figured I might as well take up the offer and not seem like a dead weight.

"So I just look for more exits?" I stood up to the vent and climbed into the tunnel that went into the wall. I also decided to leave the knife behind, because nothing good could come from a sharp object in a small space. It's not like there were going to be dead people crawling around up here.

Marco's head popped up behind me from standing up, but didn't climb in after me. "Yeah, then come back to get us when you find a place that doesn't have the dead nearby. Or at least not too many."

"Sounds easy enough."

"Oh, and be careful. The vent might break under your weight if you put too much of it in one area, so try to spread it out. You don't want to fall into a bunch of the dead."

When he brought that up all I could do was stare at him as I felt the blood leave my face. So much for thinking this was going to be an easy job. "OK, yeah, I'll remember that..." For the next few seconds we just kept staring at each other until I see a sly smile creep across his face. "What..?" I asked suspiciously.

"I was just joking, god you should have seen your face."

"There's nothing wrong with my face! It's fine!"

"You fell for it and you know it!" He laughed, leaning on his elbows in the shaft towards me.

I could feel my cheeks burn, "Just shut up..!" I rolled my eyes and turned around, "I'm leaving now."

"Wait!" Marco grabbed my pant-leg, preventing me from going down the dark shaft. "One sec, be right back." His form disappeared back down into the kitchen. How annoying, he was probably going to play another trick on me again. But I just sighed and waited anyways.

I heard Marco, Sasha, and Connie's voices jabber for a little bit, shortly followed by the sound of rummaging through drawers and cabinets and cupboards. I was almost getting curious as to what they were all doing, then it crossed my mind that the dead might have gotten in, but they would be like screaming and stuff though, right? As if on cue I heard clattering and a thump and Sasha screaming "No!" and "Get away!" I started sweating and my breath came short. Oh god  _please_ don't let everyone get eaten and leave me here all alone. Trapped in a hotel vent. 

I inched myself around to peek down where I entered the shaft as all the noise suddenly halted. Just as I was about to put my head over the opening, Marco popped up again. The sudden appearance made me gasp as the hair on the back of Marco's head brushed against my face. Marco was starting to say something while turning around but I couldn't catch anything, because before I knew it our noses bumped next to each other and our lips were mashed together. My eyes were wide open and looking into Marco's equally stupefied ones, but I couldn't move to pull away quickly because my body was still frozen with the surprise of OH MY GOD I'M KISSING SOMEONE and OH MY GOD I'M KISSING SOMEONE WHO IS A _GUY_. As I felt heat start spreading through my lips I came to and instantly pulled away.

"Whoa, sorry. I-It was an accident, uh, no homo," stuttering was all I could do as I scooted back a bit.

"... Well obviously..." Marco laughed and ran a hand through his hair and I could see his freckled cheeks were red. Probably not any different than mine right now.

I needed to change the subject  _fast_. "So now that I know no one is dying down there, what was all that racket? And screaming?"

"We were looking for this!" He lifted his left arm up and waved a small flashlight back and forth, "A light source! So you could see where you're going," he handed it to me, "And take this as well." he also gave me the quarter that he used to open the grate to the vent. His fingertips brushed my palm lightly as he set the quarter in my hand. I closed it and recoiled at the speed of light from the ticklish sensation that the slight touch sent through my body, making me (hopefully not noticeably) shiver.

 _It's because I just accidentally had an intimate moment with him. It wasn't supposed to happen. Shit just goes down sometimes and you have to swallow it, Jean. It doesn't mean anything._ I told myself this in my head, though I couldn't at all make eye contact, before speaking again. "Sasha had to scream to find a flashlight?"

Marco laughed even more wholeheartedly, "OK, what happened was while Connie was looking in some cupboards above to the display case, his knees slipped on the counter he was up on and ended up pushing the case over and spilling all the rest of the doughnuts on the floor. Sasha flipped her lid for a second before throwing me the flashlight she just found and going to the aid of the fallen pastries. It was actually pretty funny, you should have seen it. And she's hogging all the rest to herself now in her arms, telling Connie he's an  _unfit_ eater and is  _dangerous_ to food."

" _Fuck._ Give me a heart attack, why don't you guys? I thought the dead broke in and were eating you all." _  
_

"I doubt those double doors are gonna budge anytime soon, we'll be fine. Just don't get lost up here, alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

He leaned his head on his right hand, smiling wide, "I will worry, actually, don't make me have to come and _get_  you," his voice was teasing.

Was he flirting with me? No. NO. He was just playing off whatever awkward moment we were having and turning it into something we could laugh about later. Not that I would ever, EVER, want to bring this up again.

"Well, I'll see you later." I reeled myself around to face the opposite direction heading deeper into the wall and put the quarter in my pocket as I turned the flashlight on, Marco saying a 'see ya soon' back to me.

Pulling myself forward, I got to a fork and went left. I lifted the flashlight up to see how far the tunnel went, but I couldn't see past the light another grate made about five meters away that led to a different area of the hotel. I crawled over there, as quietly and carefully as I could, because Marco's previous trick about falling into the dead still hadn't worn off on me. I'd never admit it freaked me out though.

Peering through the new found grate made me hold my breath. I was over by the dining area of the hotel, and while there had to be a bunch of the dead trying to knock down the double doors of the kitchen, there were still a bunch of the dead here. I examined them more thoroughly and realized that most of them didn't look like any type of patronizing customer, but what looked like bums and prostitutes from around the area that probably thought that this new hotel building would be safer than every other place. Well they thought wrong, apparently.

I pushed forward to a right turn that was a few feet ahead of me and looked over. There was another grate quite a ways down. I twisted my body to go the distance to it. When I got there I found that it was right next to the actual front entrance of the hotel, the lobby having from what I could tell at this vantage point four of the dead. I didn't doubt that the dining area and the lobby were connected by an open space and that any noise made over here would attract all of the dead from over there.

Ahead past the grate was a dead end, ultimately making me have to scrunch my body up and turn myself around. Bumping the top of my head against the side of the shaft which made a banging noise.  _Dammit._ I looked over at the grate again as I heard a couple low snarls. The dead where looking around for where the noise came from, and seemed confused from not being able to see anything that appealed to there tastes. I went back to turning myself around and making my way back to that first fork.

By the time I got there I was sweating like no tomorrow. It was beginning to feel like I was crawling through a furnace. The metal vent itself wasn't hot, thank god, but it was rebounding all the heat made from my body moving around back to me. I lay there for a second, letting my body relax and my head lie on its side on the cool surface of the vent and facing the direction that I last saw Marco at. He wasn't there anymore, but I could just barely hear faint, muffled chatting and a hum of the dead behind the doors trying to break through.

My thoughts suddenly swerved back to Marco and the kiss we shared no longer than twenty minutes ago as I focused more on the vent's entrance to the kitchen. Face growing hot and lips getting tingly, I licked them and rubbed even more of my face into the cool metal below me. Oh my  _god_ I was so embarrassed... If a girlfriend I have in the future ever asks 'who was your first kiss?' I would definitely  _have_ to lie. I'm straight, not a homo. Being one would be... just weird... right? I don't like guys. I like sexy ass Mikasa with her beautiful black hair, brown-grey eyes, and stoical personality. Did I mention beautiful black hair? Yeah, she has it. I  _love_ black hair, how it looks so shiny and smooth and soft...  _Marco has black hair, too._  Fuck.  _Stop that, Jean, and just focus on the job ahead of you!_ I chided myself, and carried on while pushing all thoughts to the back of my mind.

Shuffling through the rest of the shaft just made my arms and knees sore because I was using muscles I literally never even really knew were there. I was never the athletic type. And even though from the fork it was practically a strait shot since there were no more forks in the shaft after that, just twists and turns, whatever grates I had passed so far all led to other areas of the lobby, or a wide hallway that connected to it and had a couple lingering of the dead. After passing the last grate in the hallway, I decided to just go all the way down to the obvious dead end my flashlight shone on just for the heck of it. At least I could say I tried.

Luckily I did go, however, because the shaft actually didn't end, it just veered upwards. I twisted to lay on my backside in the fitting crawlspace and looked up with the flashlight. It seemed that if I got myself to my feet, I might be able to get myself up to the vent over the second floor.

I took a deep breath and sighed it out before scooching myself onto my butt and curling my body to get to my knees, my torso now sticking up in the vent. Strangely, I felt accomplished. Even though I was only crawling through a bunch of generally small spaces, it felt like I was being very useful and important right now. I couldn't help but give a little half smile to myself, basking for a moment in the self-accreditation.

Standing up, I realized I wasn't tall enough to reach the second floor shaft. I cursed to myself silently as I stood there in thought. Raising the flashlight to look at all the edges around the vent, I could officially see that there were no holds to lift myself up easier. Testing the distance between my fingertips and the other entrance, I reached up and tried to mentally calculate the distance. Maybe six-seven inches away from me.

That wasn't too far, it _seemed_ anyways. I came up with the idea to put my feet up against one side of the vertical vent I was currently standing in, and then pushing my back up against the opposite side with the flashlight in my mouth. Propping my forearms on the adjacent parts of the shaft for extra leverage I just sort of hung there for a moment.

Climbing up there was a  _completely_ different story to getting in position, I soon came to realize. Sure, I was getting there, but  _damn_ getting there was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. Not to mention I was already pretty tired from dragging myself around with my arms and pushing with the edges of my knees. Not to mention my head still pounded from being hit. Twice.

As I saw myself getting closer and closer to my goal I noted something in my head. I would have to do this  _again._   _Holy fucking shit._ I hung in place again lamenting my self-induced circumstance until just getting on with it.

My breath was labored and sweat was streaming down my face as I finally made it directly across from the second floor entrance. All I needed to do now was get in there and  _viola!_ I was good to go. For now.

Head first seemed to be the best way to go. I let my arms cross over to hold onto the edge of the opening and switched one of my feet to its opposite end and pushed from there, letting my forearms partially rest on the space. Moving my other foot to the side of the other, I was now able to let my chest lean into the hole along with my arms, knees bent downwards. Stopping for a minute to catch my breath while all the nerves inside me were screaming ' _Don't slip now_ ', I finally gave myself one last and final push from my legs as I scrambled inside.

That feeling of accomplishment I felt when I found a way up to the second floor? Yeah, it was a billion times stronger now. King of the world, baby! Or the ventilation system anyways. 

Lying there, I closed my eyes and was thinking I could totally go for a little nap right about now, but then thought otherwise. It's been probably, what? Forty-five minutes to an hour or so since I last saw anyone? They were waiting for an out (or a way to Marco's sister anyways) and it was my job to try and get it for them. I got up in groveling position and sicked the flashlight on the surroundings that lie in wait for me to explore.

No. Fucking. Way. I. Can't. No. NO. _NO._  I can't go through this again. There's now way in hell; I don't even comprehend. A few feet ahead of where I was lying was what appeared to be a dead end. But it wasn't. Just like the one I had just climbed up a few minutes ago, the shaft looked to go up. At this point my eyes were starting to burn with tears of frustration, I didn't cry, but I could feel them  _right_ _there_. Just on the verge. Any other person who wasn't, I don't know, James Bond _,_  would have had the exact same flood of emotion run through them. I'm sure.

I sucked it up and continued forward. When I got there I did the exact same thing I had previously. Lied on my back. Pointed flashlight up. And  _those fucking assholes._ They did it on  _purpose._ They as in  _fucking jackass architects_ who knew that some poor guy was going to have to crawl into the vents during a _zombie fucking invasion,_ and then designed them to give him a _fucking tearjerker moment_ , because they made him think he was going to have to climb however high again. When it was only about a foot high. Which would then make him have _another_ _fucking tearjerker moment_ because  _OH THANK GOD I DON'T HAVE TO CLIMB IT AGAIN._  

Relief gushing over me, the sound of someone's muffled talking made me tense up all over again. It was coming from deeper inside the shaft I was lying in, and it was  _female._ Thoughts of it being Marco's sister filled my mind and a new wave of energy went through me. If it was Marco's sister, we wouldn't need to search the rest of this god-forsaken hotel and we would just need to worry about leaving.

I quickly went up the last distance to the rest of the shaft and saw down the tunnel that there was a vent not too much of a ways down were the voice originated from, me now recognizing a second female voice every now and then joining the first in some kind of conversation. Giving myself a congratulatory smile, I made my way down.

As I got closer my movements became more hurried and it made small banging noises where I was placing down my elbows and knees. Right at the beginning of the vent, not close enough to be over it though, I heard gunfire go off right below me. I jumped back in surprise what little I could against the side of the vent because a bullet hole popped up out of nowhere and literally  _just missed my head,_ it showing up right between my right arm and said head, and making the bullet dent the top of the vent and stick there.

Gathering myself together I scrambled to make the words, "Don't shoot!" come out of me.

"Who the fuck are you and why are you crawling in the ventilation system!?" A harsh, cynical  _female_ voice rang out.

"I-" 

And cut me off, "I don't care  _who_ you are, do you have any weapons on you!? And don't lie because I have nineteen more rounds in this Beretta and I'm not afraid to blow your balls off, pig!"

"No! I left it in the kitchen with Marco!"

"Wait, your with Marco? Get where I can see you."

I did as she said, not wanting to tempt the the lady into 'blowing my balls off', and put my head over the vent to where we could see each other. The first thing I noticed while looking down was the gun pointed at my face. The holder of it was a slender young woman with brown hair in a low ponytail, intimidating hazel eyes, and freckles. "You wouldn't happen to be Ymir, would you?" I glanced over at a petite blonde girl with kind blue eyes. "And you Krista?"

"No shit, fuck-face," Ymir lowered the gun to her side, "Why didn't Marco come himself?" It was more of a demand than a question as she quirked an eyebrow.

"I was just supposed to find a way to a different part of the hotel without the dead around, but stumbled upon you guys first. I figure this is probably better, now we can just focus on getting out of here."

"Great!" Krista smiled up at me before turning to Ymir and slapping her on the arm playfully with the back of her hand, "I can't believe you almost shot him."

"I thought he was one of the dead, baby..." Ymir's demeanor changed completely while talking to Krista. "And you," then back to being a bitch to me, "Get that thing open so I can go see my brother."

I swear, the only thing that made me even half-ass believe this woman was Marco's sister was the slightly tanner skin and freckles. In fact, I wouldn't have even guessed they were related at all, freckles or not, because of how different they were. Now I know why Marco was so if-y on if me and Ymir would get along. "We can't go out the door to this room?"

"It's kind of bombarded with dead people right now. If you weren't told by Marco how long we've been here, it's been hours."

I didn't respond. Feeling around for where I could unscrew the grate with the quarter I had in my pocket, I couldn't find any kind of screw to do that with. "Hey, I think you guys have to unscrew the grate from your side."

"And how do you suppose we do that, oh wise one? We have no tools. Don't think I haven't thought of getting out through the vents." Ymir looked at me wryly and I returned the gesture. 

"I have a quarter I could slip you through the grate." 

"Well isn't that just peachy!"

"Yes, I know, right?" 

Krista butt-in, "Alright guys, that's enough of the terrible twos act. Ymir, help me move this desk under the vent so we can get up there." It's true, talking to Ymir made me feel like a toddler again considering the sarcastic tones we were using with each other. 

When they were up I dropped the quarter into Ymir's hand and waited for her to get the obstruction out of the way. She helped Krista up first, Krista climbing into the part of the shaft opposite of me over the opening. Then Krista and I helped Ymir up, making me have to scoot down back from where I came to make room.

"So where to now, shit-hole?" Ymir remarked.

"Let me turn around, it's practically a straight shot. And my  _name_ is  _Jean._ "

" _Jean?_ Sounds gay."

"You're gay."

"Actually, It's called lesbian." She smirked at me as the fact hit me. Why didn't I see this sooner? When Marco said 'partner' about Krista, I thought he meant business wise. I was way off.

"Once again, can we get on with it?" The tiny blonde called.

Turning myself around, I headed back towards the vertical shaft I just recently climbed up. I somehow figured out a way to drop down feet first without breaking anything, and then scrunched my way into the first floor shaft to wait for them. When we were all down and ready to go I continued the trudge back to the kitchen, which felt like it took a much shorter time than finding Ymir and Krista. I slid out feet first back onto the island that was under the vent opening in the kitchen and heard shuffling along with words from the three in there. 

"You're back!" Marco came over to help me down, thankfully because my joints were stiff from being in a crawlspace this whole time.

"Dude!" Connie laughed, "You were gone for almost two hours! I thought you died.

Sasha threw a spoon at him from a cup of yogurt she was eating, that I guessed was from the fridge. "I win the bet, you owe me half your next meal." I also noticed that there weren't anymore pastries left. Not that I wanted any.

"So you found a way out somewhere, yeah?" Marco started patting me down, and I noticed why when I looked on myself. I was  _extremely_ dusty. Damn dirty vents.

"Not exactly, but I found something better?" I said it like a question which made Marco quirk an eyebrow Just as I heard a pair of feet slam themselves down onto the island behind me, then he tilted his head. "Ymir!"

"Brother dear! So very glad to see you!" She gave him a quick hug, then pulled away just as fast. "I can't believe it took you this long to get here! What the hell!?"

"You said you would meet back at Mom and Dad's!"

"Obviously that didn't happen now, did it?!" They just sort of stared at each other in a humorous way as I helped Krista down, getting a 'thank you' from her. Then Ymir caught sight of the dead blocking our only other exit out of here. "Don't tell me I'm stuck in here with frenchie for what little bit is left of my life? Let me tell you, Marco, he's an ass."

"I'm the ass?! I just saved  _your_ ass." I retorted at Ymir's comment.

"Getting people from one inescapable place to another isn't really what I would consider as  _saving_ them." 

"Well at least  _I_ didn't nearly shoot you in the head with a gun." _  
_

"OK, OK, break it up. Ymir, you almost shot him?" Marco looked flabbergasted.

"I thought he was one of the dead."

"In an air duct?"

"What? It's possible..."

" _Possible_ not  _probable._ "

Marco spent some time introducing Sasha and Connie to Ymir and Krista before addressing the current issue at hand. We were stuck here in the kitchen with every other grate connected to this vent on the first floor having a bunch of the dead by them, and we really didn't need to be on the second floor if we wanted to leave the building.

Then I remembered something as all hope was starting to feel lost. The dead were attracted to  _noise_. Like when the gunshots attracted them away from our vehicle when Marco and I were driving, or when I hit my head by the hotel entrance in the vent and the nearby dead came over looking for the source but couldn't get to me because I was in the ceiling  _above_ them. If I could make enough noise to attract all the dead from outside the kitchen over to the entrance of the hotel, we could all escape. I'd just have to make sure to be quiet when coming back from in the vent, otherwise I could be swarmed with no one there to help me. I criticized the thought in my head, not believing I was about to go through with this.

"I could get the dead outside the kitchen to a different area of the hotel." The words stumbled out of my mouth and left a distasteful feeling in it. Everyone looked at me with a 'How?' expression on their faces like I was crazy. I explained to them what I had thought of, and they all eagerly agreed to the plan. I crawled back into the vent once again, flashlight in hand, and said goodbye to Marco and everybody else before finding my way to where I needed to be.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 "See you guys outside, "Jean smirked before disappearing into the shaft, turning a corner. I couldn't say I wasn't if-y about the plan, but at least it was a plan. We got what we came here for, my sister and Krista, and had nothing else to do anyways. Jean seemed confident in it though, which was good enough for me. I trusted him, because he seemed the trustworthy type. Sure he didn't have the  _greatest_ personality, but then again, neither did my sister. Plus, he was putting his own life in danger by letting us get away while he had to trail all the way back here alone after he distracts the dead away.

We waited in silence for a few minutes before we started hearing a bunch of racket coming from beyond the dead. My guess, it was Jean at the other end of the vent. We couldn't really understand the shouting he was spouting but could plain as day tell that he was banging on the edges of whatever shaft he was in. The dead averted their gaze and useless efforts to break down the doors they were behind to go to where Jean was.

"I can't believe this shit worked," Ymir said doubtfully. 

"Let's just go!" Sasha dipped off the counter she was sitting on and went over to the double doors, looking out through the circular windows before unwinding the small bungee rope and stuffing it in her fanny pack. I still couldn't believe she's the one that ate most all of those doughnut pastries. At least I got the last strawberry danish, man she made a fuss out of that. 

Making it out and past that door with the dead guy wedged in it turned out to be as simple as Jean made it sound. We got to the car unscathed, Ymir of course fighting with me about wanting to be the one to drive, even though it was  _my_ car. I eventually just let her have it though. There was no fighting with Ymir, especially when those things could pop up at any moment. 

I took my place in the front passenger seat while the others tumbled into the back, and we started to wait for Jean. If he was able to get out at all. I let out a sigh that I probably shouldn't have, because that triggered Ymir's brain cogs to rotate into their 'let's poke fun at Marco' mode.

"You worried about your new boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend," I deadpanned. Not that I didn't want him to be. Jean was pretty damn good looking. His sharp features, that piercing look in those hazel eyes, the nice legs through his skinny jeans that led up to that beautifully tight ass of his...

"Yeah, I know. Want me to tell you something interesting about him?"

"What?" I was curious because I didn't even know anything about him. What could she possibly know?

"He's a straight virgin!" Ymir sputtered, laughing. Of course she would bring something like this up at a time like now. "I'd like to see if you could snag that piece of ass!" Behind us Krista, Connie, and Sasha started laughing and I turned to look at them. Sasha zipped her lips and made a motion as if throwing away a key, Connie just stared out the window smiling, and Krista gave me two thumbs up and said 'not a word' as if that would make me feel any better about all of them listening into my and Ymir's conversation.

"How do you know he's straight? Or a virgin?"

"Marco, I've seen many things in this world in my old age," I smiled and rolled my eyes at that because she was only four years older than me, "and one thing I have definitely seen thousands of times, is a straight virgin. The signs literally  _seep_ from him. I bet he hasn't even kissed anyone before."

I couldn't help but blush when she said that and run a hand through my hair while looking down. "Yeah..."

She looked at me blankly for a second. "Oh my god, you kissed him, didn't you?!"

"What? No! It was a total accident, we just ran into each other. He doesn't even know I'm gay. Besides, he wouldn't be interested in someone who knocked him out with a bat a few hours ago."

"Is that why he looks like utter shit? Good job! I'm proud of you. Show that jackass you mean business with your relationships." 

"We don't have a relationship. We just met."

"And yet he risks his life for you and your beloved sister," her voice was dramatic, then she got serious. "OK, I know that you're still getting over the last guy you dated, but you seriously need to get over him. At least try to have a fling with frenchie. Like I said, he's straight. And a  _virgin._ "

"I am over him.  It's been over three months since we broke up. And what does being a virgin have to do with anything?"

"He might be open to experimenting."

"Or he might want to stay as far away from me as possible. I don't want to scare him off, Ymir, so please don't do anything that will."

"So you are interested in fucking him at least? Everything good can come from a good rebound fuck. He gets his sexuality an assessment and you get a comfort partner. Win win."

I grinned at her, "If I'm going to get with him, I'll make sure it's for the right reasons. Not just to have a one night stand, you know I don't do those sorts of things." At those last words the door at the back of the hotel opened and let Jean out, him now jogging to the car. "Please nobody mention  _anything_?" I turned around again as the three in the backseat agreed to keep their lips sealed. I then looked over at Ymir and rose my eyebrows, "Well?"

"Fine. I won't intervene in your love affairs."

"Good."

"Maybe."

"Ymir!"

Before any more words could leave either of our mouths, Jean opened the door to the back seat and said, "Think I could scoot in back here?" Everyone moved over so Jean could squish in next to Connie, and then Ymir started the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So while I was in the middle of writing about Jean being in the ventilation system, I actually got curious and stopped to look up if it was really possible. It's not. For the most part it's all just a TV trope I found out, so I wouldn't suggest trying it at home! lol I actually got the idea of Jean crawling through vents when I was writing the meeting of Jean and Marco to Sasha and Connie, because at that point in time my younger brothers were watching The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluffity fluff fluff fluffity fluff. Enough said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SOOOOO, I changed the title. When I first came up with 'Merry-Go-Round', I had an idea in mind on how to accentuate the title into the story in future chapters. BUT. Then I thought of 'What Good is Left' and I was all "I really REALLY REEEAAAALLLYYYYY want it to be named that!" Unfortunately for me, it took like three weeks to get my dummy brain to figure out how to actually change the title. Like it wasn't obvious. *facepalmswithbrickinhand*

When I got in the car next to Connie, after I made sure to put the fireplace poker I was able to retrieve while sneaking out somewhere that wouldn't hurt anyone, there seemed to be an eerie silence. It looked like they were having some kind of conversation before I had gotten here, and now everyone had the sort of vibe that said 'I know something you don't know', along with stupid little grins on their faces. It pissed me off.

I waited until after Ymir, who was now the one driving, started the car to bring anything up. "So, what were you guys talking about that's so hush hush now?" Sasha and Connie sputtered out laughter before Krista nudged Sasha in the rib cage and reached over to pinch Connie on the arm, pulling out an 'ow' from both of them.

"Oh, it's nothing frenchie fry!" Ymir sounded like a house wife from one of those fifties TV shows, "Now why don't you tell us how you got that face of yours all beat up? And if you're open to exp-"

Marco interrupted, "Explain how you got your hair to be two tones!" He looked at Ymir as if to chastise her as she snickered. Krista reached forward and pinched Ymir on the arm like she had Connie, making her whine.

"Whatever, have fun with your little inside jokes." I just practically saved all their asses and this is what I get? This is why I didn't bother making friends through middle and high school.

Everyone was quiet after that as we sat in the vehicle. I decided to just sit there in my pissy mood and look out the window as we drove down the back streets. Wait. Where were we going anyways?

"Hey, where're we going? Back to your guys' parents' house?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering too," Krista joined in.

"Huh? I was just enjoying the drive in the country. Spend a little family time with my girl, brother, other people, and beat up crap-tards." Ymir was really pissing me off. What the fuck was her problem?

"Ymir," Marco was monotonous, "we are going back to the house, right?"

"Hell no! I drove my car to uselessness just getting back to that hotel to find Krista, I'm not going all the way across town again. Your lucky you didn't total your car either, Marco."

"You at least have a place in mind for us to go then?" Sasha looked like she saw a ghost, "I don't want to stay out here with those things, I might as well have never left that kitchen!"

"I'm surprised you left at all," Connie retorted.

" _I_ ," Ymir paused for dramatic effect, "am taking us to the cabin in the woods that our parents had bought for vacationing."

"Oh, I forgot about that place. It's quite a ways from the city so we shouldn't have to worry about the dead so much!" Krista chimed.

"And it has enough food stored in the cellar to last us all at least a month if it's portioned right, not to mention the natural underground well pump in the front yard. It makes for a good hide out until we figure out what the government has to say about what's going on," Marco turned to look at us in the back seat, "But it's a small cabin with only two bedrooms and two couches in the den. Ymir and Krista could share a room, then two of us could share the other, and the other two could take the couches."

"We'll take the couches!" Sasha and Connie seemed almost too hurried to answer.

Marco stared at them, mouth slightly open, before looking over at me questioningly, "Is that alright with you?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" I didn't take my eyes away from his to show that I wasn't being pressured into anything. Or maybe he was self-conscious and insecure about what happened at the kitchen vent. Don't worry dude, I don't want to eat you if that's what you're worried about.

He turned back around in his seat muttering, "OK, good."

For the next half hour we drove even deeper into the country before getting to the woods, coming across along the way minimal of the dead, I only ever counted three from where I could see outside my window. Little conversations would bubble between the others every now and then, but I just kept to myself. For now anyways. I was tired and my body ached and it was all together a  _very_ long morning. When I looked at the car clock, I could see that it was hardly past one in the afternoon. I leaned my head back against the seat and must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew Connie was shaking me awake.

Then my door opened and the unwelcome face of Ymir was the next thing I saw. "We're here sort-of-not-really! Get up lazy ass, we're almost there."

I got out of the car, confused. "If we're not there yet why do we have to get out?"

"Ran out of gas dipstick, what else? _Marco_  didn't have'er filled up, but at least we're right next to the place." She squinted at Marco and he did back, then shrugged and turned around into the woods, Krista following with Sasha and Connie not far behind. I closed the car door after retrieving the fireplace poker and went over to where Marco was standing on the edge of the wood line. He pushed a button on the key he was holding and locked the doors.

"So how far until we get there from here?"

He looked over at me and then ahead where the others were heading, "See that really thick patch of trees right over there?" I followed where his eyes were implying with mine, "Right past there. We could have just followed the dirt road around to enter through the driveway, but on foot it's faster to just walk through the wood."

"Ah."

None of us spoke for the rest of the way to the cabin, which wasn't really that far away, just like Marco implied. When we got to the edge of the clearing to it, Ymir initiated a race between herself, Connie, and Sasha, them all running to the front door. Which was rather dangerous by the way, since Connie was running with the knife he almost stabbed Marco in the head with earlier. Sasha still had her frying pan, though that wasn't all that dangerous I guessed. The rest of us walked there. Like  _normal_ people.

Ymir won the race, of course, and proclaimed herself the most awesome of awesome people in the history of awesome as she felt over the lamplight for a key to open the cabin door. I guess I could see where her and Marco were a bit similar personality wise, they were both able to keep an upbeat atmospheric mood about them in times like these. Even if they were a different type of upbeat. Sasha and Connie, though I don't really know how their  _entire_ day had gone from before I met them, just seemed like a couple of goofballs. Krista was like a fallen angel, or from her looks a goddess if I didn't know any better. I guess being in a group with these kinds of people was better than it could have turned out for me. Well, I could do without Ymir.

And speaking of the devil, "Hey frenchie fry, go take a shower before you sit on anything. You look like blood-sprinkled-lint from a dryer trap."

"Me taking a shower won't change the fact that my clothes are the actual dirty ones. And you and Krista are dirty too."

"Yeah, but you're the dirtiest, don't forget you were the first one to travel through those vents. Marco, let him have a change of your clothes," she turned toward the kitchen, "Who wants food!" And of course Sasha dashes to Ymir's side, Krista and Connie settling on stools at the breakfast bar.

I just stood there awkwardly and looked to Marco, who was looking at me as well. We both averted our eyes as he spoke. "We need to go upstairs. That's where the room we're staying in is, and the clothes you'll need." He headed upstairs and I was quick to follow as he explained more to me. "Good thing too, is that there are two bathrooms in the cabin. One up by this bedroom and one downstairs." Marco made it into a room and went to a dresser, opening one of the drawers and shuffling though it, picking out a pair of pants, a black T-shirt, and (oh what generosity) a pair of boxers. He then came up to me, "Lucky us for being the only two people up here, right? No one will really want to make the extra effort to go upstairs unless it's an emergency and the other bathroom's occupied."

"In other words, we won't be bothered. That's nice." Being able to relax a bit and take a nap without anyone making a bunch of noise too nearby sounded like a godsend to me.

He grew a sheepish grin, "Yeah, it is," then handed me the clothes, "Door right across from this one is the bathroom. Oh, but you only have about ten minutes of hot water before it suddenly switches to ice. Believe me when I say you do  _not_ want that."

I turned around to head into the bathroom. "Ten minutes. Got it, thanks."

"Your welcome."

Closing the door behind me, I set the folded loaned clothes on the counter and took a look at myself in the mirror for the second time today. Everything was the same as when I saw this morning, except for the dust from my great vent adventure and the even more swollen left side of my face. That'll take even longer to heal now. I unzipped my sweater and let it fall behind me by the wall. Doing the same with the rest of my clothes and finally going over to the shower, I hopped in.

It felt like I was sitting in one of those  _really_ good massage chairs at a mall as water pelted my back, the pressure relieving the muscles that I didn't even realize were still stiff. I tilted my head back to let the water fall over my face and  _OW,_  it burned where my bruise was, causing it to throb more noticeably. After just standing there for probably longer than I should have, I looked at the soap selection. Fruity. All of it. And of course it would be, Marco's mom was the one who probably picked everything out for this place.

I grabbed the peach body wash and lathered it all over my body. I was a lot filthier than I initially thought, because the soapsuds turned grey as they trailed down my skin. I wasn't a clean freak but... ew. Rinsing off the bubbles, I then reached for the creamy strawberry shampoo, thoroughly embedding it along my scalp. The smell was sweet and mind-numbing and I felt like a fruit basket.

It was strange. Thoughts of what happened to me and my family just before daybreak ran through my head, but unlike when I first met Marco, it was like I didn't have any feeling at all towards what happened. It's like it just  _was_. Nothing more, nothing less. And I was horrified by it. But what was I going to do? There wasn't anything I _could_ do except try to survive with these people.

" _FUCK_ ," I swore as the water turned freezing and I quickly rinsed out my hair as goose bumps made my entire body shiver. Getting out, I felt nothing but the desire to hurry up and dry off with a towel I found in the bathroom cabinet. I slipped into the clean clothes, that were a tad too big since Marco was a little larger than I, and ran my hands through my hair multiple times as if to brush it. I stared at myself in the mirror for the third time today, feeling squeaky clean with both my body and mind. Like when a person is given a whole new life to not fuck up with, except I had a gut feeling in my stomach that I would be fucking up at some point. Even though I really wanted to try not to. I gave one last look over my face where my bruise was, it now an extremely deep purple that turned to a blueish-green-yellow color around the edges.

Sighing, I went back to were Marco and I were rooming. He was sitting upwards on top of the bed reading a book he must have gotten off of the bookshelf (filled to the brim with books, so he was the 'bookworm' type) along the right wall. Trendy black reading glasses were settled on the bridge of his nose, which were quite attractive on him.  _Wait, WHA-_  Marco caught me staring and interrupted my thoughts before I could mull the previous one over in my head.

"I heard you stayed in the shower too long," he smiled mischievously as he teased me about the outburst I made earlier.

"Yeah, I guess I did," I decided to play it off, changing the subject. "What do I do with my dirty clothes?"

"It's fine to just leave them there for now, it's not like we have parents breathing down our necks to immediately clean up after ourselves," he closed the book over his thumb so as to not lose his place before continuing, "Ymir and Sasha made grilled cheese sandwiches, I made sure to save one out for you in the fridge if you want to go eat it. They're all just hanging around downstairs waiting for Ymir to finish fixing the radio so we can see what's going on now."

I nodded my head to show I acknowledged what he said. "Thanks, maybe I'll eat it later. I'm more tired than anything right now," I went over to the left side of the queen-sized bed and sort of just hovered there. I've never roomed with anyone before, let alone shared a bed, so I wasn't exactly comfortable with just jumping in.

"I won't bite you know. This is my side and that is yours." He reassured me.

Pulling back the blanket and shuffling under it was the next thing I did as I lie my head on a pillow, glancing at the ceiling. I saw Marco in my peripheral view watch me until I settled, and then turn back to his book. Maybe I'd ask him later what book it was in order to start up conversation, I thought as I rolled over facing away from him and closing my eyes.

 

* * *

* * *

 

I couldn't focus on my book as I watched Jean's breathing slow down from falling asleep in the corner of my eye. It wasn't normal for me to have my heart beating a thousand miles an hour over some guy I met not even a day ago. Now that I actually had time to relax and think about it, it brought my thoughts back to when I knocked him out earlier that day.

_The moment I turned him over to check if he was still breathing and got a glimpse of his face was the moment my breath had been stolen from me. Just looking at his unconscious face made it feel like all of time stopped. It's hard to explain, like he somehow took his hand, reached into my chest, and pulled out my heart. Just by lying there. It didn't even make any sense. He wasn't the type I was normally attracted to and dated, but all I wanted to do was soak in every single feature he could offer me. There was something about him that just made me want to own him. Glancing at the side of his head I had hit, I realized I couldn't feel guilty about it despite the swollen bruise forming. I wanted to possess him of all he was, make him show me all his most private expressions, hear his hoarse voice say my name over and over and over and... it was just my hormones getting the best of me. I ended up carrying him to the couch._

I snapped out of the memory of holding him close to my chest when I noticed what was happening. Breathing was hard because I couldn't help but eye his contours under the blanket lustfully, watching his body rise up and down in its vulnerable state. If I didn't get out of this room to cool off  _now_ , then the pants I was wearing were going to tent soon. While I was _extremely_ happy to get to spend alone time with Jean at night, I was also worried about having to control myself. I was a man after all, not always some goody-two-shoes people pegged me for. Or the freckled Jesus that Jean denoted me with. I took my bookmark off the nightstand and slipped it between the book I was reading so I could replace them with my reading glasses, getting up to go downstairs.  _  
_

Rounding to the stairs, I saw Ymir was trying to sneak up them carefully so to not make sound. "Really Ymir!?" I hissed quietly at her, "Nothing's going on, he's just taking a nap. Jeez." I passed her down the stairs and she turned after me.

"It got quiet up there so I had to go check in on my little freckle pear!" Sarcasm leaked horribly from her voice as she used the childhood nickname she dubbed me with as a baby. Unfortunately, loud enough for everyone sitting down here to hear.

Connie spoke up over everyone's giggling, "Freckle  _pear_? Where'd you get that name from!?" And he continued laughing with the rest. Ymir smiled at me evilly, making me roll my eyes and go sit down with everyone on the couch around the now fixed radio that I heard a slight static sound coming from. 

"It all started after Marco was born," she started, "I had just turned four and was holding him for the first time at our house. Mom was next to me saying, 'don't drop him freckle bear,' which was my nickname as a kid. But then I realized looking down at little baby Marco that he didn't have a nickname and I wanted him to be just like me. So I said to Mom, 'I won't drop freckle pear!' because it sounded like my name. And that was the beginning of Marco the freckle pear." They were all cackling by this time, Krista being the only one with a graceful laugh. Ymir had to add more to the story, of course. "You should of seen us as little kids! Sometimes we'd run to each other while playing and dramatically call out our nicknames to one another, like in one of those super cheesy chick flicks when the lovers thought that they'd never see each other again." She grabbed me around the neck in a hold while sitting down next to me and called, "Freckle pear!"

"I'm not answering back, Ymir." This was embarrassing, she told this story to all the boyfriends I ever had. Not that they didn't enjoy it, I just didn't. At least Jean wasn't here right now though.

Her hold tightened, " _Freckle pear!"_ _  
_

"I said no!"

"And I said, ' _FRECKLE PEAR!'_  "She twisted my head harshly until I finally gave in.

"Freckle bear! Freckle bear! Freckle bear!" Everyone was beat-red and having a hard time breathing. When Ymir finally released me, I couldn't help but laugh a little as well. I couldn't stay embarrassed forever, or angry at Ymir forever. I guessed this was why she kept telling this story to everyone, because she knew she could get away with it without any real repercussion. 

A voice on the radio made us all jump and stop laughing (and breathing for that matter) at the sudden surprise, staring at it in an unexpected shock. In just a second's amount of time we were all ears to it. It started saying stuff about how the military shut down the electricity and public satellite communications for some elaborate hard to understand reason or other, and that the water was only going to be running in the county area for another couple weeks. Then it went on to talk about a military protected camp that was set up in the area, which caught our attention even more. The voice said that they were currently taking in people at Trost High School, and for everyone to bring as much supplies of all kinds with them.Ymir turned off the radio after the voice said that they will be broadcasting on this same channel every hour on the hour and it went back to static.

We talked among ourselves about what we should do regarding the camp that was available to us. Ymir being her cynical self said that we should just stay here until our food went out, with the excuse of being forced to share if we brought anything there. Sasha was quick to be on her side of things, Connie just wanting to stick with Sasha did too. Another reason to just stay where we were was that we had a generator in the basement of the cabin that was supplying us with electricity right now too, might as well stay until we absolutely had to move. For need of food or from being over run by the dead if they wondered over this far out in the country. As for the water, our faucet, shower, and toilet time may be limited, but we still had far more than enough drinking water from the pump out front. Plus, we could always carry buckets to the bathtubs to wash ourselves whenever we needed.

Hours went by with some of us dozing on and off. Sasha evidently was the one who offered to make dinner, Krista saying she'd tag along to make sure Sasha did proper portioning since we did only have around a month's worth of food. When the food was about done and we were all taking turns serving ourselves when Jean woke up and came down. He shuffled over to take up a plate and got in line behind me since I was the last person in it. 

"Evening sleepy head," I smiled wide at him. He looked well rested. "Think you'll be able to actually sleep  _tonight_?" Jean blushed slightly at my words. What was he thinking? Could he tell I was interested? Or did he think I was just being nice? I was sure the latter, because if Ymir was right about him being straight and inexperienced, which she normally was when analyzing people's sexuality, then he probably didn't have the slightest clue I liked him like  _that._ It's not like I was making it completely obvious anyways. But it wasn't like I was attached to him or anything, I just... I don't know, was infatuated maybe? I'll give this feeling time to see if it wears off.

"I actually could probably still sleep for a really long time," he gave a half smile (god I  _loved_  that) and went on to making small conversation, "So I noticed you liked reading, what book was it earlier?"

"The Lovely Bones."

"I think I've heard of that before, is it any good?"

"Don't read it, I'm hardly halfway through and I'm literally thinking about..."

"About?"

"Burning it."

"oh." His face formed an even bigger smile. "Then why are you still reading it?"

"I'm the type that goes into literary combat and sets up a war bunker in my mind to finish all books I start to the end."

"Sounds painful, "it was our turn to get food and we took turns serving ourselves the last portions left.

"It could be torture sometimes," we sat down at the table in the dining area, him next to me.

I could see Sasha sitting across from me try and snag Connie's roll, him protesting. Krista was at the other side of me talking over to Ymir about something I wouldn't know about. It was otherwise quiet as we ate our food, there being nothing to really talk about. 

"So _Jean_ , wanna know Marco's nickname?" I froze in the middle of chewing a piece of meat when Ymir said that. _Dammit._ I thought she would be done with this.

"Isn't Marco short enough of a name?" Everyone else started little fits of giggles as their memories of a few hours ago came to mind.

"It all started after Marco was born..." And she told him the story, Jean not getting the point, but listening intently, until she finally said 'I won't drop freckle pear!' and he sputtered out water he was drinking back into his cup, then trying to seal his mouth shut with his hand so he didn't get us all wet.

"Freckle pear!?" He was finally able to muster after painfully swallowing his water, and looked at me with the most amused glint in his beautifully sharp hazel eyes. "You know, now that I think about it, pears do have freckles!"

"Oh right! They do!" Sasha put in before gasping inward as if some amazing out of this world thought entered her mind. "You know what's  _really_ funny?" She asked still holding her breath in.

"What?" We all were wondering what she thought of that seemed so hilarious.

"Frenchie fry and freckle pear!" She burst out, "Your nicknames match because they're food!"

"That's not my nickname!" Jean protested as even I joined in on the laughter. "Ymir only called me that like once!"

"When you put the names together, they sort of sound like one of those weird names for baby shows," Connie was taking deep breaths trying to regain his composure.

"I think that the names make you guys seem more cute than funny," Krista sighed looking our way.

"Of course  _you_ do, your a  _girl_ ," Jean retaliated scowling in her direction as she stuck out her tongue.

"Not so funny now that you're the one feeling the heat, huh _frenchie fry_?" I couldn't help but tease him for his sudden mood change.

"Whatever, _freckle pear_ ," his voice was somewhat alluring to me with the teasing tone he used back, and made me giggle a little more from the butterflies the sound rippled through my stomach.

We all calmed down from the short-lived hysteria that came from the stupid little nicknames and finished our food, having a good mood about us despite the long day. For a group of three sets of strangers, we were doing pretty well together. Of course this was our first day together, and in a crisis situation no less, but I had faith in everyone here. I'm pretty sure Ymir was OK with them for the most part as well. Otherwise she would have just left everyone behind at the hotel and only took me and Krista. Not that me or Krista would agree with what she chose if she did.

I offered to do the dishes tonight despite being tired, and everyone was perfectly happy with that. It was already night outside and everyone wanted to get to bed, Ymir and Krista taking to their room as Connie and Sasha propped themselves on opposite couches (Connie took the shorter love seat and Sasha the longer sofa). 

"I'll see you," Jean went towards the stairs as I acknowledged him with a little wave.

I don't think I was ever this giddy with any of my boyfriends before. Maybe it was the fact that it was a one-sided rush crush that felt new to me and got me excited. I've never been through one of those before, after all. With past relationships I of course was attracted to them and their personality, but only once I got to know them better. With Jean it wasn't like that, more like an unexplained connection that I felt instantly, and didn't fade away after noting his almost constant scowl and vicious look with rigid personality to match.

Finishing the dishes, I dried my hands and went upstairs after making sure both the back and front doors were all locked as I turned off the rest of the lights. It was dark in the room, but I could see a faint outline of things as I made my way to the bed. Looking over it I could see Jean was lying on his back with one arm above his head, the soft breathing I could hear coming from his mouth notified me that he was indeed asleep. I crept under the blanket as best I could not to disturb him, but apparently it wasn't good enough because he started stirring.

"Mmnnn," he hummed as I kept his face in view and he turned over in my direction, pulling the arm that was previously above his head to lie over the side of his body, "Mmarco?" His voice was groggy from exhaustion despite having slept for nearly half the day as well.

"Yeah, it's me Jean," I turned to face the ceiling so that he wouldn't think I was staring for longer than what he was awake for, even though I could have easily let his sleeping face lure myself into sleep as well.

"You won't leave, right? We're in this together?" My heart thud at his soft breathy words that caught in my ears. To him, his words were completely platonic. To me, it was like I was being proposed to. Luckily it was dark because then he'd see how red my cheeks were feeling.

I couldn't help but twist my body to face him while I gave my brain time to think of an appropriate answer that wouldn't seem awkward in the morning. "Of course, we're allies." I gave as the final response I deemed to be perfect.

"I want to be friends, not just allies."

It took all that was in me to not tackle and kiss him feverishly and hold him down like how I played out the action in my mind. "I want to be friends, too." I tried taking quiet deep breaths. There was no point in getting excited when there was absolutely  _nothing_ going on. At all.

"Best friends... Night, Marco," he sighed out heavily before I realized he had fallen back asleep, me being able to see the features on his face more since I had gotten accustomed to the dark. He wanted to be  _best friends_. I knew it was probably just trauma he's gone through today that made him act attached and want reassurance from me right now, but that didn't help the fact that his words gave me something to hope for in the future.

"Goodnight, Jean." I forced myself to close my eyes and turn onto my back once more, grinning stupidly to myself.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

My eyes fluttered open real quick before shutting once again, just as a sign from my body that it wanted to wake up. I shimmied deeper into the blanket, rebelling against both the soft blue light creeping in through the window that spread all around.Marco crossed my mind. I opened my eyes for good underneath the cover before poking them out and taking in his visual. Well what else was I expecting him to be doing besides reading?

I didn't want to seem rude, but words just left my mouth before I could think about them. "You're such a nerd."

He finished reading whatever sentence he was on and turned his head in my direction. It looked like he didn't know how he should respond to what I said, but then as a few seconds passed he finally responded. "Excuse me?" His tone didn't sound offended, more like he earnestly wanted to know what he was doing that made him a nerd exactly.

"Why are you reading?"

"Because... I like to? And there's nothing else to do..."

"You could laze. Like me. A not nerd."

"A  _not_ nerd?"

"Don't turn into a grammar nazi on me now." 

That made him laugh. He placed his bookmark in his book and set it to the side along with his glasses as he shuffled to lay facing toward me. "Better now?" His freckled face was softly smiling at my surely scowling one. "At least I'm not a grump."

"Who in the world says grump?"

"Your best friend, the nerdy grammar nazi," he joked, but then his smile fell when he saw that I had frozen in shock, "What's wrong, Jean?"

"Best friend? As in, I actually talked to you last night?! It wasn't some stupid dream?!" Shit shit shit, he seemed OK with whatever I said half asleep last night, but who knew if he was just putting up with me and thought I was a freakish weirdo that says even weirder things in my sleep. I sat up out of nervousness, "I didn't mean to say that. It was just a long day and a lot of stuff happened, even before meeting you, and I don't really have any friends or family and-"

"Jean."

"What?"

"I get it," he gave me another smile, "You don't have to worry. Our world's gone to shit and I'm an understanding person, you don't need to explain."

My thoughts eased to a stop as I flopped back down on my back. "I'm just sorry if saying that last night was weird, I just really like you, you know? You seem like someone I can depend on and go to if I need it." The words I just said ran in my head again and raised flags.  _Shit._  "No homo though! Really! I- I like this girl, Mikasa, and she has the greatest-"

"Jean."

"What?"

"You're explaining stuff. And I don't mean to be rude, but you're not doing a very good job at it."

I turned my eyes to glance at him. He just looked... normal? I couldn't tell what he was feeling. Maybe annoyed, but for what? I didn't know what went on behind those big, brown eyes. "Sorry." That was all I could say while avoiding eye contact.

"Well, you're a  _not_ nerd, remember? What would you know about speech." We both laughed at his sarcasm. He knew and I knew that I was just being stupidly paranoid over this. I closed my eyes and we just laid there. Until my stomach rumbled. Opening my eyes I saw that he was holding back chuckles as he got up. "You sound hungry, I'll go get something. Stay here." Then he left. And then he was back in literally no time at all. I had to scramble to sit up in the bed as he came over and sat beside me. With both our backs against the headboard, he started unwrapping a foil covered plate. "It's the grilled cheeses I saved from yesterday!" He handed me one happily and then took the other for himself.

"It's cold." I didn't mean to complain, but I'm pretty sure they weren't supposed to be cold when you ate them. I've never eaten one that way before (I can't even remember the last time I _did_ eat one) and I tended to not like to try new things. Too many chances to be let down.

"It's good cold! Try it, you'll like it," he took a big bite out of the corner of his sandwich and hummed, "Mmmm!" While he made a face that looked like what he was eating was delicious. 

"I'll try it, but if I don't like it I'm kicking your ass."

"I might just be OK with that."

"You better be."

"I am."

I squinted at him in doubt and took a decent sized bite. It was super hard and crunchy and the toasted bread tasted saturated in butter, when I got to the cheese on the inside it felt sort of like rubber but tasted kind of like Cheese It's crackers. I scowled through chewing as I stared at nothing at the foot of the bed and swallowed.

"So? What do you think?" Marco asked. I took another bite in response, scowl still on my face. "Yes! I told you!" He shouted in my ear making me flinch a bit. Yeah, OK, you were right. It's good. Don't rub it in. We finished our sandwiches in peace and then Marco spoke up again, "Hey."

"Hmm?"

"Do I get to kick your ass now since you liked it?"

"Sorry, but we didn't make that kind of a deal." I elbowed him in the side and he instantly retaliated back. As if I was going to let him get the last hit in, so I kept elbowing him back, our arms then locking in some kind of pushing contest against each other to make the other submit. 

Then the bedroom door swung open, slamming against the wall behind it making Marco and I gasp from surprise and latch onto one another. Ymir was standing in the doorway, "Get your gay asses up and come help me recover some friends of mine in town."

"We're not gay! You are!" I retorted back to her.

"Leeessbiiiaan!" She yelled back as she was already on her way back down the stairs.

"Same difference!" I got out of bed, "You sure you guys are related?" 

Marco looked uncomfortable, "Yep, one hundred percent. We should go see what's going on." He left out the door and I followed. Sasha and Connie were still sprawled on the couches sleeping, so we sat at the breakfast bar with Krista. Ymir then came up from the basement holding two large gas cans and set them on the counter.


End file.
